2nd Harvest Week
June 20th - 25th, 2005
Vegetables of the Week
Salad Greens
Come to our 1st Open House
Sunday, July 17th, 11 am-4 pm.
see a future week’s newsletter for more details and a map.
What’s in Your Box
FROM THE GROWING MANAGER,
BOB… This year, our vegetables are
getting off to an excellent start--my
sense is that the fields look better than
ever (at least the best they have looked
in my 11 seasons here). Although it has
been dry (I think Farmer John told me
that he has read that it’s been one of
the 5 driest Springs over the last 100
years), we have used this to our advantage and all of our crops have been
planted on a timely basis. Thankfully,
our irrigation systems (our “traveling
gun” overhead system and our drip
tape “ground level” system) have ensured that almost all of our crops have
received ideal amounts of water (too
much water causes fungal diseases and
is bad news for crops like tomatoes,
melons, and winter squash; too little
water has more commonly known effects--including slower growth and
even plant death; hmmm, “plant
death,” this is a term I never used before but I like its drama factor). The
two crops which we are unable to irrigate are the sweet potatoes and the
winter squash (I could explain why at
an open house--one is coming up on
Sunday, July 17th; future details on the
open house will appear in a future edition of this newsletter). Even though
these last 2 crops haven’t received ideal amounts of water, they are still doing
quite well. In any case, this dryness has
helped us keep ahead of the weeds.
Whereas the sky’s moisture offering
has been sparse the year so far, the
overall spring weather has been noticeably warmer than last year -- in fact,
our broccoli was ready to harvest almost 2 weeks earlier this season over
last. This bodes well for the entire
growing season. The adundance has already started. Our boxes are so full that
we are not even able to put one of our
best crops in your box this week: beets.
But worry not, they will be in the box
next week and even though they may
be bigger, one thing we know for sure
about our clay soil is that it grows tasty
beets. And, bigger beets from this soil
taste just as good as smaller beets. (A
continued on page 2
Angelic Organics
Please note: this box summary is written the week before you receive your box. Some guesswork is
involved: some things may be in your box that are not listed, and some listed things may not be in the
box. As always, be sure to thoroughly wash all of your vegetables.
SALAD GREENS
◆Lettuce - 2-3 heads, red & green
◆Salad Mix-Baby Lettuces, Chard &
BRASSICAS
◆Broccoli - 1 or 2 per box
◆Cauliflower-unlikely; just starting
Mustard Greens incl. Arugula, Osaka
Purple, Mizuna, Kale, & Tatsoi.
HERBS
◆Parsley - for Wed/Thurs. only
◆Oregano - Fresh! See ideas below
◆Summer Savory - for Saturday only
Butterhead Lettuce
ROOT CROPS
◆Radishes - Asian Shunkyo or Red
Cherriette; more ideas below
◆Beets - unlikely
◆Turnips - White Spring Salad turnips
with greens; also see below for ideas
FRUITING CROPS
◆Summer Squash and/or
Zucchini
COOKING GREENS
◆Spinach
◆Bok Choi-maybe for Wed/Th only
ALLIUMS
◆Garlic Scapes-the beautiful
green curlicues in your box;
see note below
◆Scallions
NOTES ON THIS WEEK’S VEGETABLES
Garlic scapes are an early spring teaser before the big garlic harvest in July. These are
the flower stems that develop on the garlic plant & have to be removed for the bulb to
develop properly; they also are a nice item in their own right. Chop the scapes finely &
use them as you would garlic cloves. Raw, they are good salad additions. Because they
lose their flavor quite rapidly when cooked, don’t add them till near the end of your sautee.
You are getting fresh oregano this week. Try it not only on pizza, but perhaps in an
oregano-spinach pesto with almonds or pistachios. Adding parsley to your basil pesto
will help keep the pesto from darkening. In addition to stews, eggs, & meats, summer
savory goes especially well with beans. In Europe it is fondly known as the Bean Herb.
If you’ve never tried this variety of fresh, young turnips, you may be in for a surprise.
They can be eaten raw or cooked. They are good in
salads, or just as a snack. The greens can be used
just like the radish greens we talked about last
week.
A note on radishes: these have some spicy-ness;
try them chopped up in tacos (our Mexican crew
says they enjoy them this way) or shredded in salsa.
The summer squash plants are finally kicking in
with their legendary energy, and you will probably
find one or
two large-ish
zucchini in
This forecast may help you with menu planning.
your box.
It’s slightly more reliable than a weather report.
This is a
FRUITING CROPS
BRASSICAS
good week to
◆Sum Sqsh & Zukes ◆Cauliflower
try stuffing
◆Cucmbers-maybe and/or Broccoli
or frying
ROOT CROPS
SALAD GREENS
this squash.
◆Beets
◆Lettuce
You could
◆Salad Turnips
◆Salad Mix
also shred
ALLIUMS
them &
◆Scallions
HERBS
make zucchi◆Thyme
COOKING GREENS
ni bread.★
◆Anise Hyssop
◆Kale
Coming Next Week
Devin harvesting parsley--see pg 2
✸ 1547 Rockton Rd, Caledonia, IL 61011 815-389-2746 ✸ Farm News 2005 Week 2, June 20th-25th ✸ Page 1
Angelic Cooking
Salad Greens: Lettuce and Salad (Mesclun) Mix
This was written for the first week of the 1999 season and therefore reflects a “first week” perspective.
Is there anything that conveys the essence of spring more than a bunch of fresh, crisp salad greens? They are the first to break the long
winter fast of roots, and we at the farm are so excited that we consume large amounts of salad every day. Salads are one of the most freeform foods there are; as Charles Warner said “You can put everything, and the more things the better, into a salad, as into a conversation; but
everything depends on the skill of mixing.” I invite you all to have as much fun mixing the fluffy, crunchy stuff as we do!
~Shannon
STORAGE: Leave lettuce whole & store it, unwashed, in a plastic bag in the refrigerator. Or, roll washed & dried lettuce or mesclun leaves loosely in a
kitchen towel, put the towel in a plastic bag & store in the vegetable crisper. (Wet greens will spoil quickly, so make sure they are truly dry before refrigerating.) If you use a salad spinner, just put the covered salad spinner in the refrigerator after spinning the greens. Eat mesclun mix w/in 4 days; lettuce can
keep 5 to 6 days before eating.
HANDLING: Always handle salad greens gently - they bruise easily. For lettuce: slice the head at its base with a sharp knife, let the leaves fall open. Discard
outer leaves if damaged or leathery. Tear large leaves into bite-sized pieces. For all
greens: wash in a large basin of cold water, swishing them around a bit, & dry with
a salad spinner or a mesh bag swung around your head. Extra-gritty greens
(such as spinach) may need a second round of washing.
USE: Raw, in salads, is the most common. However, cooked dishes such
as braised lettuce and lettuce soup are served in Europe. Try it!
Here’s the easy, fun ROASTED SCALLION cooking
tip from our previous cook, Hannah Bennett:
(she made these at lunch once & they were
declared delicious) trim scallions to about 5
or 6 inches (you may wish to discard the
roots and tops-although Bob prefers the
roasted roots); roll them around in olive oil
on a cookie sheet; add salt (or herbs) as desired; roast at 400°F for 15 minutes or so-turning for thorough cooking. Lora, this
year’s cook, suggests grilling them outdoors
to keep the kitchen heat down.★
This is from my all-time favorite cookbook,
Vegetarian Cooking For Everyone. It was written by Deborah Madison, who so strongly believes in local, organic vegetables that she
has her own seed collection in Seeds of
Change. Serves 4-6.
Mixed Green Salad
4-6 handfuls salad greens
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 1/2 tablespoons wine vinegar
or 1 tbsp lemon juice
5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
mixed chopped herbs
salt & freshly ground black pepper
✧ Carefully sort through the greens, then
trim, wash, and dry them well. In a
small bowl, combine 1/4 teaspoon salt,
the mustard, and the vinegar and let
stand at least 10 minutes to dissolve the
salt. Whisk in the oil to make a smooth
sauce or shake everything together in a
jar. Taste the vinaigrette on a leaf, and
adjust oil/vinegar ratio to taste.
✧ Right before serving, toss the greens
with the herbs & a few pinches of salt
(hands are best for tossing). Add 3
tablespoons dressing & toss until
they’re coated lightly but evenly. Taste
& add more dressing, if desired. Grind a
little pepper on the leaves, toss again, &
serve.
Salad Additions From Your Box:
Scallions, chopped
Broccoli and Cauliflower, cut up
Radishes and Turnips
All sorts of herbs, including oregano
Garlic Scapes
Angelic Organics
From The Moosewood Restaurant Kitchen Garden.
This is a great recipe for using all those fresh herbs
you’ll get throughout the
season - you can substitute whatever herbs you
have on hand. Yields 2 cups.
Moosewood
House Dressing
Valentin harvesting some butterhead lettuce
1/2 tsp fresh lemon thyme
1/4 cup fresh parsley, loosely packed
1/4 cup fresh basil, loosely packed
3 Tbsps scallion greens, chopped
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp Dijon mustard
+ 1/2 cup milk
3 Tbsps water (or apple juice)
3 Tbsps cider vinegar
+1 cup oil
✧ In a blender, whirl all ingredients,
except the oil, for 1 minute. While
the blender is running, slowly add
the oil. Blend only until the dressing
is thick & creamy.
✧ Herbs may be varied to suite your taste,
but maintain the proportion of liquid to oil
for a creamy consistency. Will keep
refrigerated for up to a week.
Angelic Organics Crew
Throughout this season, we will be featuring a crew member in each newsletter
and share with you anything of note about
them. This week’s feature is Devin. Look
for more on one of our (currently) over 20
workers each week. Over the course of the
year, our total employee count ranges
from 6 to 30.
Featured Employee
pict on pg 1
Devin Wasz says the greatest part
of working at AO is being able to work
outside all day. This is Devin's third season at the farm. She's a local--she's lived
in Caledonia for the past seven years and
was born in Downers Grove. She's one
of our fastest salad mix harvesters, and
does an outstanding job coordinating all
of our transplanting. Outside of farm
hours, Devin is a skateboarder and an excellent baker. She intends to study painting and art history in college.★
This 2004 recipe addition was submitted by a
Hyde Park shareholder and is from the Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home cookbook.
Salsa Verde
1/2 cup olive oil
1 cup fresh parsley leaves, packed
3 garlic clove + 1/3 cup lemon juice
2 tbsp. of capers, rinsed & drained (optional)
1/4 cup chopped scallions or onions
1/4 tsp. salt + ground black pepper to taste
✧ Combine all but the pepper in a blender
or processor & whirl until smooth. Add
pepper to taste. Cover and refrigerate,
will keep for about 5 days.
Variations: 1-2 Tbsp. fresh chopped basil,
tarragon or dill, summer savory, or try 1/2 tsp.
rosemary or sage, or a tsp. of Dijon mustard.
FROM
THE GROWING
MGR…
cont. from page 1
beet sidenote: over the years, even confirmed
beet haters have come to appreciate and enjoy Angelic Organics’s beets; one other thing,
cook the beets with mustard, it’s very complimentary and makes them yummy; but no
matter what you’ll have to wait for your beets
until next week.)
OK, so this week’s feature is Salad Greens
and there surely are plenty of these in your
box. The lettuces can get bitter in the heat but
weekly irrigation has helped mitagate this
tendency. But, I’ve heard that bitterness is
good for the liver--so even in this case maybe
you still win out. This is the last week of
spinach until the fall (it’s too hard to grow in
hot weather [it “bolts”] and will next show up
in your September boxes). Let us know what
you think of eveything so far.★
✸ www.AngelicOrganics.com ✸ [email protected] ✸ Farm News 2005 Week 2, June 20th-25th ✸ Page 2